Expression and regulation of the pituitary- and placenta-specific human glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit gene is restricted to the pituitary in transgenic mice.

Authors

N Fox
D Solter

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1988

Keywords

Female, Fluorescent-Antibody-Technique, Gene-Expression-Regulation, Genes-Structural, Glycoprotein-Hormones-Alpha-Subunit: an, ge, Human, Immunoblotting, Male, Mice, Mice-Inbred-C57BL, Mice-Transgenic, Orchiectomy, Pituitary-Gland: me, Placenta: me, Pregnancy, Species-Specificity, SUPPORT-NON-U-S-GOVT, SUPPORT-U-S-GOVT-P-H-S, Transcription-Genetic

First Page

5470

Last Page

5476

JAX Source

Mol Cell Biol 1988 Dec;8(12):5470-6

Grant

HD23239-01, CA25875-07, CA108145

Abstract

Expression of the glycoprotein hormone alpha subunit occurs in both the pituitary and placenta in humans. However, this study found that expression of this subunit is restricted to the pituitary in mice. An interspecies analysis of human alpha-subunit gene regulation was undertaken, using the transgenic-mouse approach. In mice transgenic for a genomic clone containing the complete human alpha-subunit gene and several kilobases of 5'- and 3'-flanking sequences, cell-type-specific expression and hormonal regulation of the human alpha-subunit transgene occurred in the mouse pituitary, whereas no expression of the transgene was detectable in the mouse placenta. These findings provide strong evidence that a common trans-acting factor(s) regulates glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit gene expression in the human and mouse pituitaries; however, this factor(s) or a unique factor(s), though functional in the human placenta, is either nonfunctional or absent in the mouse placenta.

Recommended Citation

Fox N, Solter D. Expression and regulation of the pituitary- and placenta-specific human glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit gene is restricted to the pituitary in transgenic mice. Mol Cell Biol 1988 Dec;8(12):5470-6